Blood corticosterone levels and intersexual selection games: best-of-bad-job strategies of male common lizards |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Virginia?Gonzalez-JimenaEmail author " target="_blank">Patrick?S?Fitze |
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Institution: | 1.Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC),Madrid,Spain;2.Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC),Jaca,Spain;3.Fundación Araid,Zaragoza,Spain;4.Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE),University of Lausanne,Lausanne,Switzerland |
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Abstract: | Glucocorticoids affect physiology and behaviour, reproduction and potentially sexual selection as well. Short-term and moderate
glucocorticoid elevations are suggested to be adaptive, and prolonged and high elevations may be extremely harmful. This suggests
that optimal reproductive strategies, and thus sexual selection, may be dose dependent. Here, we investigate effects of moderate
and high elevations of blood corticosterone levels on intra- and intersexual behaviour and mating success of male common lizards
Lacerta vivipara. Females showed less interest and more aggressive behaviour towards high corticosterone males and blood corticosterone levels
affected male reproductive strategy. Males of moderate and high corticosterone elevations, compared with Control males, showed
increased interest (i.e., higher number of chases, tongue extrusions, and approaches) towards females and high corticosterone
males initiated more copulation attempts. However, neither increased male interest nor increased copulation attempts resulted
in more copulations. This provides evidence for a best-of-a-bad-job strategy, where males with higher corticosterone levels
compensated for reduced female interest and increased aggressive female behaviour directed towards them, by showing higher
interest and by conducting more copulation attempts. Blood corticosterone levels affected intrasexual selection as well since
moderate corticosterone levels positively affected male dominance, but dominance did not affect mating success. These findings
underline the importance of female mate choice and are in line with adaptive compensatory behaviours of males. They further
show that glucocorticoid effects on behaviour are dose dependent and that they have important implications for sexual selection
and social interactions, and might potentially affect Darwinian fitness. |
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